I do not live in the SW (USA) so no one around here sells pumice. S&H adds up. I have read some +/- on using poultry grit and/or paver base (both available locally) in succulent soil mixes. Any thoughts? Yes, I live in a sandy area and have been using a fine sand so far. No S&H, no sales tax. Maybe just stick with that? Gene

Have you looked for a product called Dry Stall (for horses)? Pumice under another name. Fine sand is not going to help much with drainage. It pack tighter than coarse sand and mixed with soil can hold onto more water than soil alone.

My pumice substitute is perlite. Poultry grit is crushed oyster shells (at least around here) - the idea being that the chickens get calcium with their grit. Otherwise, they could just eat gravel.

Gravel will work though. There a people in the wet states planting cactus in the clay pellets that were designed to work in hydroponic systems. My daughter has an aquaponics system and she uses gravel. The idea with gravel or clay pellets is that the plants get watered and fertilized often but they never sit in water.

I would be concerned about fine sand as it tends to pack and turn into concrete. If you can keep it from becoming concrete and its working for you, don't fix it if its not broke.

I use Poultry Grit too, the one that is insoluble crushed granite. I do not use the one that is oyster shell. Using it more as mulch, there is cactus soil with pumice under that poultry grit. But I am also mixing it in now with the cactus soil when I have to repot, in case I have no pumice around.

Great answers - thanks all! I'm doing well with what I have, just always looking for better. My sandy soil is fine and loose with lots of organics in it (peat) and no clay at all. Does not compact nor turn into concrete. I'll look for Poultry grit that is not shells. Going to look for Dry Stall (never heard of that.) Gene

If you pass construction sand (for making concrete) through a window screen and lose the fines, you will end up with something that is essentially poultry grit (the granite kind). Around here that's the cheapest thing available for making a rocky mix. The key is to avoid any sand that has other stuff added (like wax or whatever) as there are treated products out there as well, for specialty purposes.

Sounds like Napa Floor Dry absorbs moisture which is the exact opposite of what I need. Baja - I will go to the local Home Depot and see what they offer with what you said in mind - thanks! I just remembered that I bought a 40 lb. bag of what they call Pea Pebbles from them last year. I was mixing the small pebbles into my "soil" mix and adding them as a top dressing - for looks only. Seemed to be a good idea at the time. Gene

I use poultry grit without the oyster as a topper in my rock garden. It's basically just small rock / clay? It does help the texture of our sandy SW soil and is much less obnoxious than perlite. I don't use perlite out in the garden as it works it way to the top in my sand based soil.

gasrocks said:Sounds like Napa Floor Dry absorbs moisture which is the exact opposite of what I need.

Pumice absorbs water (and actually changes color from white to grey when it gets wet). Not a lot, but a measurable amount. That is why it is used in products like Dry Stall. But then perlite absorbs water, too. The exclusion of water is not really the point of the aggregate, though that may be part of its effect (relative to organic soil). The desired effect comes mostly from breaking up the organic soil matrix, providing gaps, and promoting the efficient passage of water through the medium. Pumice and perlite have the advantage of being light and airy; the air pockets in pumice are open but the air pockets in perlite are closed.

Perlite works like pumice but it comes with a really nasty dust and you have to be careful to protect yourself while you handle it.

More good info. Searched the internet, made some phone calls. No one around here has Dry Stall, just Stall Dry which is a whole 'nother thing. Had to go to the local Walmart so I stopped at TSC store along the way. They are not known for low prices, IMO. Got a 5lb. bag of poultry gravel (granite.) A feed store 30 miles from here has a 50 lb. bag for the same price. Something new to try out. Gene

Yes, you're right Gene. If you have to buy granite, get it from the feed store. It is so much cheaper. It's a shame that in order to get a small amount, you have to pay several times as much as the regular product in a 50 lb. bag. If you can't use a large bag, perhaps you can share the cost with another local gardener.

Here in Pittsburgh, PA I can't get pumice with out great cost and just found out about the poultry (granite) grit last year. Also at the feed store they sold small bags (8 lb.) almost the same cost as 50 lb. bags. Also there are two sizes. small and large. The small is almost like sand and the large is like the size of large perlite. So live and learn, I buy the large only at $8.50 a bag. Seems to work very well so far for me. I have gone thru 4 bags so far. I like the weight of the product that holds the plant and roots together. At a 50-50 mix, what water I add seems to run right out. Just what the doctor ordered.
Stush

Years ago I had an external pump/filter for my aquarium it used Diatomaceous earth. The local aquarium store sold it for $11. a pound. 2 blocks down the road was a pool supply house. They sold 50 gal. barrels for $7. Gene

I think Daisy may be thinking of garden DE which is fine, powder like. That you would not want to use in your soil mix as it will interfere with soil drainage--like fine/playground sand. The Out of Africa website says that they use the NAPA brand. That one has particles the size of aquarium gravel or the large chicken/granite grit. Is my explanation close to what you were expressing, Daisy? Anyway, it's just my 2 cents, and I felt that it's worth mentioning.